


inertia must be a con

by knifelesbian



Series: Anne With An E: Coda [1]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knifelesbian/pseuds/knifelesbian
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: Anne With An E: Coda [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968544
Kudos: 38





	inertia must be a con

Matthew has given her a brand new pair of ice skates for Christmas, and Anne is determined to use them. It doesn’t matter that she’s never skated before, everyone is going to be down at the pond tomorrow, skating their hearts out, and Anne has to be there. She has to.    
  
And no matter what Diana says, it is not because Gilbert will be there. She has made this decision all on her own, thank you very much. Some _boy_ with coal black curls and dark eyes that hold so much more than it seems does not and will not ever factor into where she goes and why she goes there, no way.   
  
“Anne, don’t forget to tell Jerry to take his skates when you two go down to the pond tomorrow,” Marilla says passively as Anne makes her way up the staircase, not realizing that she has just delivered the worst possible news of Anne’s entire life. She  _ can’t _ take Jerry. He’ll  _ embarrass _ her.   
  
She pauses on the stairs. “What? Marilla, I can’t take Jerry!”   
  
Marilla puts her hands on her hips in her very best _you better listen to me_ stance. “Why, yes you will, or- or you won’t go at all. That boy deserves a day of fun just as much as you do. There isn’t much to be done tomorrow, and Matthew will pick up what little slack there is. Now, have I rebuffed all the arguments you’ve surely already come up with?”   
  
Anne stomps her foot on the stair, thoroughly defeated. “Yes,” she groans, then stomps back upstairs and flings herself onto her bed in a huff. Jerry better not embarrass her.    
  
__________   
  
Of course, they haven’t even reached the rink yet and Jerry has already told Diana three separate stories of all her mishaps back at Green Gables. She is surely going to throttle him soon.    
  
And it’s not helping that Diana is absolutely delighted by each new tale, clapping her hands together and giggling gaily in such a way that Jerry’s cheeks are very, very red, and not just from the cold.    
  
“And there was this one time when-“   
  
“Jerry.”   
  
He turns to her, innocent as a newborn lamb. “Yes, Anne?”   
  
“Stop.”   
  
He lifts his chin, trying in vain- as he often does- to seem taller than her. “Stop what?”   
  
Anne gives him the most venomous look in her repertoire, wishing upon him the most evil of punishments that she can imagine. A two hour long tea with Mrs. Lynde, perhaps, or bailing an endless pile of hay for days and days, reminiscent of Sisyphus and his boulder in the deep dark depths of the Underworld. She elbows him lightly. “You know what. Stop it.”   
  
He rolls his eyes at her, and Anne rolls her eyes right back. She sees Diana roll her eyes at the both of them, fed up with their ongoing nonsense. Diana has told her that the way the two of them act is ‘ridiculous, truly, all you do is bicker’, but that is because Diana does not understand the nuances of their relationship. Sure, Anne wants to sock him seventy-five percent of the time, but if anyone ever said a word against him she’d curse their family tree with the darkest magic known to man or woman and tarnish their name so badly they could never return to Avonlea. And he surely feels the same about her- just ask Billy Andrews and his broken nose, courtesy of Jerry for calling Anne ugly at the last town picnic in October. It’s mostly healed, now, but his nose is still wickedly crooked in a way that gives Anne an evil kind of glee upon each glance.   
  
“Just around the bend, now, and we’ll be there!” Diana clutches Anne’s arm, gleeful once more. “Oh, Anne, I’m so excited for you! Your first ever time ice skating, how positively- positively-“   
  
“Exhilarating?” Diana nods fervently as they round the bend, and- “Oh, this is absolutely exquisite.”   
  
She nearly drops her skates as she looks on, drinking in the pure white snow and smooth expanse of ice, the bundled up skaters looking like perfect little butterflies flitting around the ice. It’s idyllic, like a scene from a picture book.   
  
“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it? I’m so glad that it’s finally frozen enough to skate on- this past year without it has been utterly despairing.” Diana grabs her hand, tugging her along as Jerry follows them. “Come on, Anne!”   
  
They all sit down on a makeshift bench, strapping their skates to their boots excitedly. Anne steps out onto the ice carefully, getting her balance before pushing off.    
  
It’s an absolute dream. She flies across the ice without a care, swinging her arms out and looking up at the sky as-   
  
“Woah, watch where you’re going, Anne!” She’s crashed into someone. She didn’t fall, he grabbed her tightly by the arms before she could, but she still crashed into someone. Someone who’s voice she would recognize anywhere, and oh, dear, this just got ever so much more embarrassing.    
  
Gilbert is rosy cheeked and cheery as he waits for a response, bright smile warm and welcoming like a hearth at Christmastime.    
  
She sucks in a breath, almost shocked by it, then says, “Sorry, Gilbert. It’s my first time on the ice, you see. Don’t really know what I’m doing, yet.”   
  
He huffs a laugh, releasing her. “That’s clear.” Anne frowns at him, mildly offended, and he must see she’s beginning to be cross with him because he says, “No, no, I’m not- I’m not trying to be rude. I was just… going to… offer my help?”    
  
His voice cracks at the end of the sentence, and he looks like he’s bracing himself for rejection. Anne squares her shoulders and nods curtly. “Alright then. Show me how it’s done, Blythe.”   
  
Pleasantly surprised, Gilbert boldly grabs her hand, sending a jolt through Anne’s heart. “Wonderful. Okay, so, I’m quite an accomplished skater,”  _ braggart, _ “so you just hang onto me so you don’t fall. Good? Good.”   
  
And off they go, slowly making their way forward. “You just said the word ‘so’ three times.”   
  
The idle remark is to quell the fast pace of her heart, but the way Gilbert smiles at her just makes it beat faster. “Did I? That’s weird.”   
  
What is wrong with her? She can’t like Gilbert. Ruby has staked her claim quite clearly, and if Anne steals him away she would never be forgiven. Although, maybe it’s okay to have a teeny tiny fluttering of feelings for him. It’s not as if ugly and plain Anne Shirley Cuthbert could ever steal the handsomest boy in town from someone as beautiful and sweet as Ruby.    
  
“You know what I think is odd?” He hums in acknowledgement, and she continues, “That there’s a rule so specific as, ‘I before E except after C’, when so many words break it! It’s ridiculous.”   
  
He tilts his head and squints a little, which with Gilbert usually translates into  _ elaborate, please. _ “Oh? Name a few.”   
  
At some point, Anne has wrapped an arm around his to keep her balance better, her hands clasped together at the crook, and his hand has gravitated to her wrist. She’s only just now realizing that every couple on the ice is in the exact same position, including Mary and Bash, who she didn’t see until just now. She’ll have to go say hi, later- or maybe Gilbert will lead them over naturally. He’s quite attached to the both of them, all three making quite a trio of kindred spirits to each other. “Off the top of my head, weird, science, glacier, concierge, and ancient. Funny, isn’t it?”   
  
He thinks on it. “Huh. I never noticed that before. Learn something new every day, right?”   
  
She smiles cheekily. “Only with me.”   
  
The grin he sends back is more than a little fond and more than a little dashing. “Yes, only with you.”   
  
They skate around for a while longer, not speaking but not unhappy, either. Gilbert breaks the comfortable silence, though, to say sincerely, “Your hair is growing back quite nicely.”   
  
She touches the tip of her left braid a little vainly, relishing at the length. It’s a ways past her shoulders, now, and she’s hoping to get it back to its original length by the start of the harvest. “Thank you, Gilbert. I think so, too. I was worried my hair would be the type to take much too long to grow back, but I’ve gotten lucky, I think. And it was…quite an experience to go through. It definitely taught me a lesson.”   
  
“You know,” Gilbert starts, “I never did get to hear why you had to cut your hair so short.” Her eyes go wide as she opens and closes her mouth a few times, gaping like a fish. Worried, Gilbert asks, “Anne?”   
  
Anne recovers, just barely. “Uhhh, maybe another time.”   
  
He gives her an odd look, but not one without a smile. It’s the soft kind that edges at the corners of his mouth instead of a full fledged grin, and Anne’s heart is beating much too fast to be considered normal right now. Should she see a doctor? “Alright then.” He shifts his eyes back to what’s in front of him, and Anne studies his jawline, wondering what it would be like to kiss him there. It seems quite a scandalous place to kiss someone, though. “Oh, there’s Diana, let’s skate over.”   
  
He tugs her along, Anne keeping a tight grip on his arm as he picks up the pace. What an embarrassment it would be to fall in front of everyone, she would never recover.    
  
Diana sees them, then, and starts to wave wildly. Ruby and Jerry are beside her, chatting amicably.    
  
They skate up to them, and Diana, mischievous in a way Anne would never expect from her best friend, asks, “So, Anne, how are you enjoying skating?”   
  
The  _ with Gilbert _ is subtextually tacked on, and Anne narrows her eyes at Diana. That was uncalled for. “Just fine, thank you, Diana.”   
  
Ruby has noticed their presence, now- well, to be more accurate, she’s noticed Anne’s arm entwined with Gilbert’s and has zeroed in on it with the fervour of a girl incensed.    
  
Anne disentangles herself from him as quickly as possible to avoid a catastrophic collision of Ruby Gillis and the concept of Gilbert not being interested in her. He looks surprised, almost disappointed, and Anne says, “Thanks for the help, Gilbert,” she side-eyes Ruby to make sure he gets the point, “but I think I’ve got it, now.”   
  
He nods slowly, mouth tightening, and Anne gets a sick feeling that she’s upset him somehow.    
  
~~~~~   
  
Is this how it will always be? Gilbert getting close enough to her that he thinks he maybe, just maybe has a chance, then inevitably getting interrupted by Anne’s own sense of duty and obligation?   
  
He drifts in and out of the conversation after that, continually trying to catch Anne’s eye. But with Ruby here, watching him like a very adorable hawk, she won’t even spare him a glance.    
  
After a while, they split off, Anne and Diana one pair, Ruby and Jerry another, and Gilbert all alone.   
  
He drifts over to Bash and Mary, who never seem to take a break in teasing him, it seems. “You made her your girl, yet?”   
  
“I told you, love,” Bash says, “he doesn’t have the nerve.”   
  
“I do, to!” Whoops, too loud. Prissy Andrews just glared at him. He lowers his voice. “I do, to, I’m just waiting for the right time. Anne Shirley Cuthbert is a hard girl to get alone.”   
  
Mary smiles, turning to Bash and saying, “Aw, listen to how he says her name. Most lovesick I’ve ever seen him.”   
  
Gilbert crosses his arms and does his best not to pout. “I am not lovesick.”   
  
Bash raises an eyebrow at him. “But you are.”   
  
Gilbert is about to respond when he hears someone that sounds an awful lot like Billy Andrews say loudly, “Hey, look, it’s a dog on skates!”   
  
He gets a sick feeling as he turns around, fear and anger filling him at what he sees.   
  
Billy and his cronies are circling Anne, taunting her as they swerve closer and closer, causing her to flinch each time they swoop in and miss her by a hair. Each time she tries to get away, Billy cuts in front of her, blocking her path with an evil smirk.   
  
Gilbert is already skating over, preparing himself to punch Billy in his already crooked nose- thanks, Jerry- even harder than the last time. But he’s too late.   
  
Billy crashes into Anne, clearly on purpose, and she goes flying, her skull hitting the ice with a sickening smack.   
  
“Anne!”    
  
The next few moments are a blur as he pushes through the quickly gathering crowd. His heart is practically beating out of his chest with worry, hoping and praying to God that nothing is seriously wrong.   
  
The first thing he sees is the blood. It’s pooling from the back of her head down to the tips of her braids, the deep garnet of it even more terrifying against the stark white of the ice.    
  
Forcing himself to stay calm, he calls to a nearby Moody, “Help me get her off the ice.”   
  
Moody, white as a sheet, nods quickly, and they both kneel down on either side of her, carefully lifting her up. As Gilbert shifts to support her head, swallowing down bile as he feels the blood there, Diana follows behind them in a tizzy. Ruby has an arm around her shoulder, just as upset.   
  
They lay her down on a bench at the edge of the pond, and Gilbert kneels down next to it, finally able to check her over properly. He brushes the hair away from her face, and her eyes flutter open. She squints up at him, and he says softly, “Thank the Lord. Anne, can you hear me?” She nods, then winces when it hurts. His hand hovers near the back of her ear, where he’s nearly certain the blood is coming from. “Can I?”   
  
You could hear a pin drop in this cold, stifling silence, broken only by Anne croaking out, “Yes.”   
  
As gently as possible, Gilbert turns her head to get a better look at where she hit her head. Pulling out the first aid kit he’d shoved in his pocket before he left this morning, certain there would be at the very least a minor emergency, he opens it and pulls out a soft, clean cloth to wipe at the blood gently. Once he’s done that, it’s clear that this is a case of all bark, no bite. There’s a bump there, red and angry, but the scratch that caused it has stopped actively bleeding. He wishes he had something to clean it up a bit more, but that will have to wait until he can get her to a place with, say, clean water.    
  
Anne, seemingly feeling a bit better, has her eyes squeezed shut as she asks dramatically, “How bad is it? Is it life-threatening?”   
  
He grabs a bandage out of the kit, trying to figure out the best way to place it. “You wouldn’t even be cognizant if it was life-threatening, Anne.” He’s wondering how her head is feeling, so he asks, “Hey, spell that for me? Cognizant.”   
  
She thinks for a moment, then spells out, “C O G N I Z A N T. Why did I have to do that?”   
  
Ah, here’s how he’ll attach the bandage. He lifts her head gently as he starts to apply it. “Because concussion victims often have trouble with basic brain exercises, spelling, memory, and the like. Anne, what are the names of your guardians?”   
  
“Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert.”   
  
“Good, good. And your best friend?” He sees Diana’s mouth tighten, afraid she won’t remember.   
  
“Diana Barry, of course. She’s right there, Gilbert, really, be more creative.” He hears more than sees Diana let out a sigh of relief from where she’s knelt on the other side of the bench. Anne goes to roll her eyes, then sucks in a pained breath when it hurts. Gilbert brushes his fingers through the flyaway hairs that so often grace her forehead, trying to comfort her. Quick as a wit, Anne reaches up and grabs his hand, squeezing tightly as she breathes in and out, trying to quell the headache.   
  
Diana grabs her other hand, whispering over and over that it’ll be okay, until eventually Anne releases his hand, opening her eyes again. “Okay, that was horrendous.” She meets his eyes. “Can I go home now, doc?”   
  
_ Doc. _ Gilbert likes the sound of that. “Yeah, of course,” he helps her sit up, Diana and Jerry aiding her as well. “I would like to walk home with the three of you, though, just to keep an eye. That okay?”   
  
She nods slowly, aware now that the quick nodding she usually does would send her head spinning. The three of them pull off their skates (and hers, too), carefully help her stand, and once she’s on her feet she leans heavily on Diana, who wraps an arm around her friend's waist.    
  
They start making their way towards the trail to Green Gables- and that’s when Billy Andrews steps in their path.   
  
“Anne,” Gilbert is already seeing red. How  _ dare _ he. “I really am sorry for pushing you so hard. I mean, you deserved it, what kid doesn’t know how to skate-“   
  
“Shut up, you insufferable, vile, bully. I’m so  _ sick _ of you acting like a toddler.” Gilbert is very, very proud of himself for not hitting Billy just now. But it seems words hurt more, from the way he screws his face up. Gilbert almost thinks they’re lucky enough that he’ll just step out of the way, let them get Anne home. Almost.   
  
“What did you just say to me?”    
  
Gilbert shakes his head, exasperated. “Billy, you can’t possibly tell me that Cole boxed both your ears and not just the one. I was there, and I don’t believe you.”    
  
Billy comes at him in a rage, but Gilbert simply steps out of the way and sticks his leg out, sending Billy flying into a pile of snow. Everyone around starts laughing, and rightly so.    
  
He turns back to Anne, Diana, and Jerry. “Let’s get you home.”   



End file.
